Pro-UN Editorial at Forward.com

George Mitchell, former Senate majority leader and "senior fellow at Columbia University's Center for International Conflict Resolution," begins his essay in a way that suggests that he will address the UN's ability to reform itself following the oil-for-food scandal. In three paragraphs of astonishingly empty writing, Mitchell tells us what gives him cause for hope:

Reaching agreement on difficult issues concerning the U.N. is possible, even among people and organizations with divergent views. One need only look at the work of the congressionally mandated Task Force on the United Nations that I co-chaired up through this summer with former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Drawing on the collected views of experts and institutions representing the left, center and right of the American political spectrum, our task force submitted to Congress a 145-page report that included 16 pages of specific recommendations in five thematic areas: preventing and ending conflicts and building stable societies; preventing and responding to genocide and gross human rights violations; preventing catastrophic terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; ensuring the effectiveness, integrity, transparency and accountability of the U.N. system, and fostering economic development and reducing poverty.

The ability of a diverse group of Americans to reach agreements in so many significant areas regarding the U.N. should be noted and celebrated. To me, the task force's success signaled that the U.N. need not be a divisive political issue in the United States, and that Americans do see value in international cooperation.

145 pages! "Five thematic areas"! "16 pages of specific recommendations"! I feel better already!